I was going to call this Cheap Performance Mods, but Cheap is a relitive term. For most of us, anything that does not require the engine or trans being pulled out of the car is an easy mod. I am starting this thread becuase of the thread about someone posting real drag times with a couple of mods he had done, he gained .4 in the quater with a pulley and a cold air kit.

Basicly if you could post your mod and how much it cost you in $$ plus time to install it. I know prices will vary becuase some people can find cheap parts, used parts or free parts.

Some of stuff I have done

K&N Filter cost free becuase I got it from a wrecked fiero I bought. it did make a diffrence mainly becuase my paper one was worn out. I like the fact that if I ever pull it out and it is dirty I just spray it to clean it and put it back.

Removed the water seperator, cost was free becuase I had some old dryer tubing kicking around to put in its place. Only gains were cool sound when I reved it up.

Added a holly scoop, dont know if it helps, but it should do something at or above 100mph.

Removed TB Coolent Lines. Cost Free, gains, proably 1-2hp but it cleaned up the area around the TB alot.

Added Adjustable Fuel Pressure Reg and Gauge. HP gains maybe 3hp but it will come in usefull for tunning with the soon to be running NOS and 19# Injectors.

Added and Removed and will be putting back on 19# injectors. Cost 60$ from Ebay. They make the car run pig rich at idle BUT I did gain 3 tenths in the 1/4 mile with them.

Added the ASP Power Pulley Kit both the crank and alternator pulley. Cost 79.99 USD Great mod if you dont use your power accesories much. (heater, headlights, and so on) It is worth at least 2-3 tenths in the 1/4 on a stock car.

Added Hood Vents. Cost traded a factory hood for them. Cooling is awesome, car drives much nicer at high speeds and is much more stable at 100mph.

Increased tire pressure. Cost Free, due to the lowering rolling resistance the car should be faster in the 1/4.

Added full MSD Ignition cost 260$ CDN, car runs better, gets better gas milage and pulls harder in the high rpms. My fuel milage is average 30mpg. I saw a 10% gain in fuel economy. My price is lower, because I bought the 6AL box used from a fellow racer.

NOTE Stuff Below This Line is USER BEWARE. Removing your EGR Has been known to cause some peoples engines to be damaged. Mine Howerver has not seen any problems.

Removed about 1/2 of emmsions stuff, EGR, Cat, and anythign else I could take off. It allowed me to remove a great deal of Vacuum lines and really clean up the engine bay. I can now see my dist hold down bolt clearly.

I am sure you guys have some other cheap or easy good mods. Now lets get this thread started. I hope that some of my stuff might inspire someone to come up with some cool stuff.

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85GT 2.9 4spd
www.david.westcoastfieros.com

[This message has been edited by Capt Fiero (edited 06-30-2003).]

Change your rubber brake lines to steel braid. This will eliminate bulging in the lines when you hit the brakes hard, thus you will stop much faster. Your brakes will be hard all the time, no matter how hard you hit them. Purchased at the fiero store for $100 for the whole set.

Run your car on better gas. It will run cleaner, faster, and in my opinion, a 15 year old car (at the least) needs alittle more umph then 87octane...to push down the piston. (this is just my opinion)

-Phil

Never remove your EGR valve. It leans and cools the engine. Ever notice on most cars when you take the hose off the egr valve the spark rattle like hell. They're running alot hotter.

As a perf tip " Increase your timing from 10 degrees to 12 degrees will give you about 6 hp."

Phil

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87 FIERO GT 2.8 5spd
0-60 in 6.8 seconds!
87 FIERO CPE 2.5 5spd
86 FIERO SE 2.5 AUTO
87 FIERO GT 2.8 4SPD
If you found my advice helpful, please take the time to give me a positive rating. Thanks

dont 4-get weight reductions

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Rich AIM: OneFast 2M8
* '86 se: , 2" drop, coil overs, KYB's., ported manifolds
* '86se: ,350 bored .030 over,World Products s/r Torquers - ported, Manley valves, edelbrock 750cfm, carb sanderson cc90's,4:10,Spec stage 3copper puck clutch, MSD-6AL, adj.Koni's, Eibach's,polly. and lots more!!
*'92 BMW 325i : borla exhaust, ST brace, cold air intake

Moving the timing from 10 to 12 did nothing for me in the 1/4. My 300+ also did nothing for me in the 1/4. However if I accidently hit the rev limiter it doesn't kill like the stocker does. (to 4k rpm anyway.) I'm thinking about a pulley kit though.

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85 GT 4 SPD
Number 53715 of 76371
Best 1/4 15.816 @ 84.72

Accel 8.8mm wires, Accel 300+ Ignition box, Blaster Coil, NGK UR5, K&N, Short Shifter, High flow cat, Monochrome Caracus red, KYB shocks/struts, ST lowering springs, Poly Dogbone.

Coulee Region Fieros member(couleefiero.tripod.com)

quote Originally posted by Phil86SE: Run your car on better gas. It will run cleaner, faster, and in my opinion, a 15 year old car (at the least) needs alittle more umph then 87octane...to push down the piston. (this is just my opinion) -Phil

The only difference in 85 octane and 91 octane is 91 is less prone to detonation. Neither 'pushes' the piston any harder than the other.

Run the cheapest type of gas that will allow your engine to run w/o knock.

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I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate.
And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it.
01011001011011110111010100100000011000010111001001100101
01100100011101010110110101100010

quote Originally posted by GTDude: Never remove your EGR valve. It leans and cools the engine. Ever notice on most cars when you take the hose off the egr valve the spark rattle like hell. They're running alot hotter. As a perf tip " Increase your timing from 10 degrees to 12 degrees will give you about 6 hp." Phil

On My Motor my car runs a tade bit rich due to the longer duration cam. All an EGR does is replaces some of the incomming oxygen at part throttle operation with exhaust gas cuasing a cooler burn while reducing the chace of detonation. I dont want to start a mulit page thread about this. BUT YOU ARE CORRECT, you should never remove it from a stock motor especially if you do not know what you are doing. BUT in my case, I knew I did not need it, hell I can still pass emmsions testing without it. My NOX readings are below average. (NOX are from high combustion chamber temps) This could be argued from hell and back, but that is also why I put a warning on that mod.

quote Originally posted by Capt Fiero: On My Motor my car runs a tade bit rich due to the longer duration cam. <snip> BUT YOU ARE CORRECT, you should never remove it from a stock motor especially if you do not know what you are doing.

This, coupled with the 19# injectors probably explains why you don't run lean. Together, though, I can see why there is an improvement from stock.

EDIT: Also, grind the excess flange out of your exhaust manifolds. Tried and True way to unlock hidden HP. I didn't see it mentioned, but could be blind.

[This message has been edited by fierogt88 (edited 06-30-2003).]

quote Originally posted by fierogt88: This, coupled with the 19# injectors probably explains why you don't run lean. Together, though, I can see why there is an improvement from stock. EDIT: Also, grind the excess flange out of your exhaust manifolds. Tried and True way to unlock hidden HP. I didn't see it mentioned, but could be blind. [This message has been edited by fierogt88 (edited 06-30-2003).]

ya have ya thought about a free flowing exhaust i noticed some increase when we ported my exhaust manifolds and put a flowmaster on.....

but ya each sticker IE eibach, nos, nitto, Konig, etc is tested and proven to give 1extra hp each!.....

oh ya thought about like a roller rocker kit?

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If you find my signature offensive, simply dont look at it or call 1-800-WAA-AAAH.
zr-2 hoodscoop, 6"wingstands, ARchie rocker scoops, CRX INtake..MORE

[This message has been edited by jubjub2m6 (edited 07-01-2003).]

Jesh I cant belive I forgot about the porting of the stock manifolds. HeHe that is one of the first mods any V6 fiero owner should do.

Ya know I thought that this thread would be a bit more popular, seeing as 80% of the people that own Fiero's are cheap buggers. Not saying that we dont have money, just that we are not "cheque book" racers. We like to do things ourselfs and have fun learing it. Unlike some of the import guys that just drop there car off to the tuner shop every payday to have a few more stickers added.

Good thread! Drives with your windows up Good for that extra bit of aerodynamics at speed...

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Get rid of the spare tire for weight savings, just have a can of fix-a-flat and maybe AAA. Lighter rims will also help.

Hallowing out that cat is good for a couple HP but is illegal, so thats up to you. Can have it replaced with a less restrictive high flow version.

hey capt., can i just unplug the coolent lines to the throttle body from thr rubber hoses near the water neck, stick like some screws and clamp them in place in the rubber hoses to block the coolant?

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--Adam--
1987 Blue GT 5-speed
IM AOL: FieroGT5speed

Yes you can do that. Just plug the lines off. But I really like the look of them removed from the TB all together. It makes it so much easier to work on stuff around the TB IE Timming, TPS and IAC just to mention a few. Heck it is easier to get to the dist cap. The only hard thing is you have to make a new Map sensor bracket or cut the old one from the metal lines and re-use it.

Pricision Timing.

The timing marks on the pulley are crap......

Get hold of a DTI (Dial Test Indicator). Remove Spark Plug Number 1.
Remove Dist Cap so you can see the Rotor arm. Turn the engine over by hand so TDC on No.1 is approaching.
Insert the probe on the DTI down plug hole number 1. Gently turn over the engine and watch the DTI dial.
When you see the the piston has peaked paint a new mark on the AirCon pulley on the crankshaft.

Turn the engine over again 360 degrees and double check with the DTI that your NEW TDC mark is spot on.

Replace spark plug no.1
Put ECU into DIAG mode.
Set basic timing to 12 degrees BTDC using a programmable Stobe light.

(Using this process i discovered that my harmonic balancer marks were actually off by 4 degrees).

This should gain 6 to 10bhp. Depending of how far out your origional factory timing marks are.
This is how the Pro's time their engines !!.

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Regards,

Paul Taylor, England.
85 GT Notchback, 2.8 V6, 4 speed manual. Custom made Tubular branch exhaust manifolds with true twin 3in exhaust system. No CAT, No EGR. No Crossover pipe. ADS Road Race SuperChip & 160 deg stat. Poly bushes all round. Lowered 2 inches. 16" alloys with 225/45 rubber. 0-60mph in 5.5 sec.

www.fieroforum.co.uk/Paul85gt.htm

sorry but I gotta say this- most of the stuff in this thread is a good way to spend your time, a lot of your time, and your money

but the HP that hits your wheels is primarilly dependant on only a few things:

the displacement of your cylinders - Bigger engine volume => more HP

the amount of air pumped in (pulled in) - scoops are for people who dont understand airflow - gotta have a turbo or blower (supercharger) to get any real gains

resistance of exhaust - back pressure is taking away part of your HP and turning your engine into an exhaust compresssor

intake and exhaust: wider cam - valves stay open longer, less resistance to intake and exhaust flow.

if you dont change any of those things, playing with your injectors or fuel pressure is only going to screw up your mixture

thats about it for the engine. anything else you do is going to give you a few HP here and there, but not worth your time and money.

drivetrain: gear ratio determines acceleration and top speed. If you want a car that is quick off the line, get tire with a smaller diameter - if you want higher top speed, leave them at stock sizes

and last: acceleration is all about HP to weight ratios: takeing stuff OFF your car is free - if you are serious about being quick, strip out anything you dont need - spare, jack, AC, radio, oversized battery, carpet in trunk

at some point in your life you realize you only have so many days on this earth - ifyou are going to spend time making your car faster, then be serious about it. By the time you go all the way around your car making simple mods you could drop in a larger engine, turbo...

that time you are spending installing a power pulley, you could be installing a turbo - you dont get that time back, and you cant take your money with you :c)

PS: one gallon of gas weighs 8 pounds. 10 gallons weighs 80 lbs - thats 72 lbs right there!

[This message has been edited by Ken Wittlief (edited 07-01-2003).]

unfortunatly, I gotta mostly agree with the above. Your not gonna get a whole lot more out of the stock 2.8 without some real work. The underdrive pulley, porting the exhaust manifolds & a MSD coil are the only cheap/easy mods I'd say are worth the effort. Then the mid priced, more effort - bored throttle body & ported intake, cam, roller rockers. Then theres the heavy pricey stuff (which dont belong in this thread - simple mods) - bore & stroke (ei. 3.1 and up), head work (port, polish, valves), balancing, & high compression pistons.

Kinda boarder line, 1.6 roller tip rockers. People say that with the ported manifolds are supose to add 10hp across the board. (stock is 1.5 stamped steel) I have 1.52 roller tips with a higher lift and duration cam, and I am still thinking about swapping to 1.6 for more lift.

TTT

I gotta hear more...

GREAT thread!!

SmoothWBGT!!

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Said Hulki, "You had to look at the Fiero not as
a car, but as a process."

SmoothFieroGT@Yahoo.com